EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

Circuit of the Americas (COTA)
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sunday, March 27 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX

Kaulig Racing has one top-10 finish at a non-superspeedway/ non-road course track, which came at Auto Club Speedway (Hemric, ninth)

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1

Allmendinger’s fifth-place finish at COTA in 2021 was Kaulig Racing’s first-career top five in the NCS

AJ Allmendinger on COTA:

“We had a really good weekend as a team last year at COTA, so I’m looking forward to keeping the momentum going that we have in the Xfinity Series and then going out and doing it again on Sunday in the Cup Series. With the Next Gen car, I think the braking will be the biggest difference compared to last year. I think we will be able to be more aggressive and reach peak-brake distance getting into the corners. The physicality of the race car will be increased as well – that’s something that makes racing more enjoyable for me, especially at a place like COTA where there’s so many different types of corners, whether you are at high speeds, or more aggressive with the brakes.

I always have a little more confidence at these types of tracks, and if we are at our best, I believe we can go contend with the best teams out there. As a team, our goal is to go out and make the best of the day.”

Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1

Haley’s average finish of 18.2 ranks 16th-best (of 33) of all full-time NCS drivers in 2022.
Haley’s one-lap led at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend was Kaulig Racing’s first of the 2022 season

Justin Haley on COTA:

“I’m very excited to get the Next Gen car to our first road course of the year. We had a successful test over the off season at the ROVAL, so I’m looking forward to our first actual road-course race of the season. COTA was one of our better tracks last year at Kaulig Racing, and I’ve had some really good runs there in all the series I’ve raced in. We have a little bit of momentum on this No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection team and some good finishes so far. Hopefully we can capitalize on our strengths this weekend.”

Pit Boss 250

Circuit of the Americas (COTA)
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Saturday, March 26 at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1

• Dating back to the 2020 season opener, Kaulig Racing has finished at least one car in the top 10 in 70 of the last 71 NXS races.
• Kaulig Racing finished all three drivers in the top 10 at COTA in 2021 (Allmendinger: P2; Haley: P9; Burton: P10)
• Kaulig Racing has an average finish of 7.0 at COTA in the NXS (second best of any track in the series)
• Kaulig Racing has led six laps at COTA
• Kaulig Racing swept the first two stages in 2021 at COTA (Allmendinger, stage one; Haley, stage two)
• Kaulig Racing has led 152 laps in the NXS season so far
• Allmendinger: 104 laps
• Hemric: 48 laps

Landon Cassill, No. 10 Usio Chevrolet

Cassill finished 22nd in his first start at COTA
He earned his first top-five finish of 2022 last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his first NXS top five since 2011
Cassill has earned back-to-back-back NXS top-10 finishes (three straight) for the second time in his career and the first since 2008

Landon Cassill on COTA:

“I’m really excited for COTA, especially because of the support I’m going to get from my teammates this week. Knowing that AJ (Allmendinger) has run so well on road courses, and how good he is at those tracks, makes me excited to get there and continue to learn. He’s elevated this entire program and the way these cars drive on road courses. Our No. 10 Usio Chevy will be by far the best equipment I have ever had on a road course, which makes me even more motivated to prepare myself for a track like this.”

Daniel Hemric, No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet

Hemric finished 29th in 2021 for the first NXS race at COTA

Daniel Hemric on COTA:

“Circuit of the Americas is a cool venue, and the forecast looks great for this weekend. Kaulig Racing’s road-course program has been so strong the last couple of years with the addition of AJ (Allmendinger). This is one of the places we have circled on our calendars. There’s still some newness surrounding the event, and this time, there is a good section of the racetrack that was repaved. Having one the best drivers on road courses to lean on in AJ makes me even more excited.”

AJheadshot.png
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet

• In Allmendinger’s first start in the NXS, he finished in the runner-up position
• He has led 3 laps at COTA, also won stage one in 2021
• Allmendinger is the only driver in the NXS with a top-10 finish in all five races in 2022

About Kaulig Racing™

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and made the Championship 4 round in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. They will continue fielding three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by Landon Cassill, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by AJ Allmendinger. With multiple wins, Kaulig Racing has come to be one of the top competitors on track each weekend. The team made multiple starts in the NCS in 2021 and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The young team has acquired two charters for the 2022 NCS season, with Justin Haley competing as its first, full-time driver in the series. The team’s second entry will be shared by part-time teammates AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

Richard Childress Racing at Circuit of the Americas … RCR has one previous start at the 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course in Austin, Texas. Tyler Reddick won the pole for the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas, his first-ever Cup Series pole award. The pole award came in his 52nd career start and he backed up his strong qualifying run with a ninth-place finish in the race. Austin Dillon qualified 16th and finished the race in 12th place.

Introducing the Next Gen … NASCAR’s Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which officially debuted in 2022, is a collaboration of the brightest engineering minds in racing. With technology at the forefront, Richard Childress Racing has played a unique and critical role in helping to bring this new on-track identity to life, working closely with OEMs, other teams and NASCAR to build and test the initial prototype.

RCR in the NASCAR Xfinity Series … RCR has one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Circuit of the Americas. Myatt Snider was credited with a 21st-place finish in 2021, completing all 46 laps of the event.

Catch Saturday’s Action … The Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of the Americas will be televised live on Saturday, March 26 at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Follow Sunday’s Action in Austin … The Echopark Automotive Grand Prix will be televised live on Sunday, March 27 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Circuit of the Americas … Dillon has one previous NASCAR Cup Series start at Circuit of the Americas, finishing 12th in last year’s rain-shortened event. He also has experience at the track competing in World Racing League endurance races in December 2020 and most recently, in December 2021, winning both days of the two-day event. He has enjoyed COTA as a fan at a Moto GP race.

About Bennett Family of Companies … McDonough-Ga. based Bennett Family of Companies is a woman-owned, Women’s Enterprise Business Council (WBENC) certified, diversified transportation and logistics company. Through its 12 affiliated operating companies, the Bennett Family of Companies delivers integrated transportation and supply chain management solutions worldwide. The company will use race experiences to recruit and retain hundreds of truck drivers for their organization in 2022. For more information, visit www.Drive4Bennett.com.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
Last year, you jumped into the unknown at Circuit of the Americas down in Austin, Texas. What did you learn last year that you can carry over to this year?
“I would love to have a race at Circuit of the Americas in better conditions because last year was a monsoon. We want to see the track in regular racing conditions because if it does rain, it definitely changes the line a bit. There’s a wet line and a dry line. It was good to experience that, but I wouldn’t want to do it all the time. I think the new Next Gen car is built for much better racing in the rain, but I don’t think there’s supposed to be any kind of race in that kind of condition. That was a bit aggressive, as we learned. I’m just excited to get back to the track. Tyler Reddick and I put in some time there in the offseason, which has us pumped for this weekend. We won an endurance race there this year, which was awesome.”

You did some road course racing at COTA during the off season with Tyler Reddick and Kaz Grala. What was that experience like?
“It was pretty awesome. We won both days. There were 98 cars there, and 40 were in our class. I felt like we went down there and needed to win. We had the best driver lineup, and we were able to get the job done. It was a great experience for when we go to COTA, and just learning more about road course racing. We did a lot of passing during the race, so it was good. I think we all started to gain some different knowledge about the track, and different areas you can run to try and find speed. Laps are laps. You can’t beat getting that experience.”

This Week’s 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Circuit of the Americas … Tyler Reddick will return to Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, the home of his first ever NASCAR Cup Series pole award. Reddick’s first ever pole award came at the 20-turn, counterclockwise circuit’s inaugural Cup Series race last season. In the end, Reddick finished ninth. Reddick has shown a lot of improvement on road courses throughout his career. Last season, he tied a career-best finish of second at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (ROVAL).

Eyes on the Prize … Tyler Reddick grabbed the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet team’s first top-five finish of the season at Phoenix Raceway two weeks ago. He finished third and battled for the win at the end of the race and came up just short of his first career NASCAR Cup Series win. In five races so far this season, Reddick has one top five and two top 10s and has led 95 laps. Reddick also jumped to the No. 1 spot in the NASCAR Power Rankings after his performance at Phoenix and has managed to hold onto the spot heading into this weekend’s race at COTA. Unfortunately, last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway didn’t go the way the team had hoped. Reddick was victim of a tire issue while running up front and after the damage sustained, the car was not able to keep up with the rest of the field. After a second tire issue, the No. 8 team’s day was done. COTA was good to Reddick last season so there is some momentum on his side this weekend.

Visit the 3CHI Display at COTA … 3CHI invites everyone to come visit their display this weekend at COTA for samples, swag and the opportunity to win prizes. Tyler Reddick is also scheduled to visit the 3CHI display on Sunday before the start of the race at 11:35 a.m. CT. Come join the fun!

3CHI Blazes the Trail for Another Industry First… 3CHI and Richard Childress Racing created another first with their partnership for the 2022 NASCAR season. 3CHI began with roots as a CBD producer and quickly became a pioneer in science-based hemp and cannabis innovation. The company was the first to commercially develop and market Delta 8 THC, and today, 3CHI is an industry leader with unsurpassed product quality and purity as verified by top independent labs and benchmark organizations. 3CHI products are sold in a majority of the United States, and the company produces and markets a variety of gummies, tinctures, lotions, edibles and vape products. All 3CHI products meet federal requirements for full legal compliance, with a commitment to promoting responsible adult use. See 3CHI.com for more information.

TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:
COTA is the place where you won your first Cup Series career pole award and it was the first-ever race at the Austin, Texas track. Can you implement anything from last season’s race to this weekend and do you feel like you have momentum on your side?
“COTA is a huge weekend for all of us on the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro team. With a road course as diverse as COTA, you really have to bring your a-game. It’s exciting to come back to the place where I won my first pole, you don’t forget that and it’s definitely special. Especially with not having practice and qualifying most weekends last season, it was cool to be one of the guys that went out there and won the pole. I’m looking forward to this weekend’s race and adding another one for our team. Last year’s race was rough with the rain and it’s looking like we’re going to have good weather this weekend so that’s a gamechanger. I think with the new car and no rain, you’re going to see different racing. I’m pumped for it. We’ve spent a lot of time working on our road course program and this is our chance to put it all to the test with the Next Gen car. With only having 20 minutes to acclimate to the new Next Gen car on the racetrack, every minute on track will be crucial. I feel very good about where we are as a team and how well the performance of our cars have been. This will certainly be a race that will test every aspect of the team and the driver. With that, we have a lot of excitement, and we are ready to take on the challenge head on. I’m excited for it, we could use a good result after last weekend at Atlanta.”

During the offseason, you visited COTA with Austin Dillon and Kaz Grala for a race. What was that like and will it help you at all this weekend?
“Racing at COTA during the offseason was really cool. We were running an endurance race and there were almost 100 cars there and 40 were in our class. We ended up winning both days. That’s exactly what we went down there to do; to win. With the lineup that we had of myself, my teammate Austin and Kaz, we knew we could compete and go for the win. It was awesome to be a part of and a great way of having extra experience at COTA. It was a way to learn more about the track and road-course racing in general. It was a completely different experience than when we were there for the race because of weather, and I was able to take some good notes home with me.”

This Week’s Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro SS at Circuit of the Americas … Creed will be making his first Circuit of the Americas start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He has five top-five finishes in five NASCAR Truck Series road course starts, including a fifth-place in 2021 at Austin. The Alpine, Calif., native has one Truck Series victory in road course competition, a win on the Daytona Road Course in 2020 where he led 19 of 46 laps (his average running position in that event was 3.78). Creed has three top-10 finishes in five Xfinity Series starts this season. He gained two positions in the series driver standings after his ninth-place finish this past weekend in Atlanta, moving up to 12th place.

About Whelen … Whelen Engineering is a family-owned company with a pioneering spirit and a passion to protect the lives of those who protect and serve others. The company mission is to provide industry-defining safety solutions around the world, while creating a community of problem-solvers who are inspired to push boundaries and continue our legacy of delivering ground-breaking innovation. As a global leader in the emergency warning industry, Whelen has been trusted to perform since 1952, when George Whelen III invented the first rotating aviation beacon. Whelen now encompasses two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Connecticut and New Hampshire with over 750,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing space and the largest design staff in the industry. Every part of every Whelen product is proudly designed and manufactured in America. We embrace quality as our foundation, we celebrate innovative engineering in every product we produce.

SHELDON CREED QUOTES:
What’s your mindset heading into this weekend’s race at COTA?
“I love road course racing but I really didn’t do a whole lot of it growing up other than Stadium Trucks and some TA-2 racing in Trans Am. I liked it right away and I think I was pretty good at it right away. I think my worst finish in the Trucks on a road course is fifth. I enjoy the fact that you don’t have to be overly aggressive on road courses to go fast. You don’t have to worry about the aero part of racing like on the ovals. I enjoy it a lot and I look forward to going to road courses and I feel like I put a lot of effort into it.”

How difficult is Circuit of the Americas in Austin compared to other road courses that you’ve been on?
“All road courses have their difficulties for sure. COTA is big and has really big braking zones which makes it a little more difficult than Watkins Glen, where the harder you drive the faster you go. The braking is really hard to manage at COTA and I feel like whoever can do that the best and not burn up their stuff early in runs is who is going to be fast at the end of the race.”

This Week’s Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro SS at Circuit of the Americas … Hill will be making his first Circuit of the Americas NASCAR Xfinity Series start on Saturday afternoon. He has three previous starts on road courses in the series; two starts at the Charlotte ROVAL (2020 and 2021) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (2021). Hill led 27 laps on his way to a second-place finish this past weekend in Atlanta. He enters the COTA event eighth in the series driver standings, a gain of three positions. He has now led 63 laps this season (118.580 miles). Hill has six NASCAR Truck Series road course starts, highlighted by his victory at Watkins Glen International in 2021. He led 35 of 61 laps (his average running position was 3.23) in a race shortened by lightning. With his victory in the season-opening event at Daytona, Hill has clinched a spot in the 2022 NASCAR Playoffs.

A First for Global Industrial… For the first time this season, Global Industrial will be the primary sponsor on the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro SS driven by Austin Hill. Global Industrial is a Fortune 1000 company based in Port Washington, New York. The company sells industrial products and office supplies through direct to business channels. Established in 1949 by Michael and Paul Leeds, the company now sells over 1 million products via their online sales and call center.

About Global Industrial Company:
Global Industrial Company (NYSE:GIC), through its operating subsidiaries, is a value-added industrial distributor. For more than 70 years, Global Industrial has gone the extra mile for its customers, and offers more than a million industrial and MRO products, including its own Global Industrial exclusive brands. With extensive product knowledge and a solutions-based approach, Global Industrial helps customers solve problems and be more successful. At Global Industrial, “We can supply that®.”

AUSTIN HILL QUOTES:
You have two first-year partners with Global Industrial and Bennett Transportation and Logistics. How cool is that to introduce those people to the sport?
“It’s been a great season to have Global Industrial and all these different partners come on board. Everyone at Global has been great to work with and I’m very excited for the remainder of the 2022 season. Hopefully we can have a good showing this weekend and keep the ball rolling.”

How different is Circuit of the Americas compared to other road courses?
“COTA is definitely a different animal as far as the way the road course drives. When you go to a place like COTA there’s a lot of first gear corners so it’s more technical, but I have confidence that at any road course we go to, we can get the job done. I think that road-course racing suits my driving style. You’re up on the wheel and you’re hopping curbs and you’re driving the heck out of it each and every lap. With this being Global Industrial’s first race with us, hopefully we can do just like we did with Bennett Transportation and Logistics and United Rentals back at Daytona and go get the job done.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE GRAND PRIX
TEAM CHEVY TELECONFERENCE TRANSRIPT
MARCH 23, 2022

A.J. ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series weekend at Circuit of The Americas. Teleconference Transcript:

WITH THE NEW CAR IT’S WITH THE COMPOSITE BODY FOR THE CUP SERIES AND THAT’S EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE IN THE XFINITY SERIES AND I’M CURIOUS, HOW MIGHT THAT CHANGE THE RACING THAT WE’LL SEE IN CUP IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY WILL DO ON A ROAD COURSE AND PARTICUARLY WITH THE SHORT-TRACKS COMING UP?
“I think it’s not so much about the body on the road courses. It’s the brakes. Much bigger brakes. That’s a thing that really stood out to me at the ROVAL test was just how much later we could be on the brakes and with the sequential box you don’t wheel hop that easy, so that’s another reason you can brake later. That is the biggest difference. The cars are a little more nimble as well, so you can kind of throw them around and lap times were a ton quicker at the ROVAL it seemed like. Speeds will be up, I think physicality of the racecar will be up even more and I think that in a way could make passing a little easier could make it a little harder because you know we’re all that much deeper on the brakes. It’ll be interesting to see. You know COTA’s going to be one of those races that if the weather looks like it the way it is it’s going to be so hard to judge off of last year just because of how wet the race is. Yeah, I think that’s going to be the biggest difference on that. You know the short-tracks remain to be seen. It’s looked like at these races if you do kind of get into the wall the car takes it in one way on the body side of it but with the suspension, I think it’s a little more sensitive. You can’t just beat and bang off of each other and know it’s going to be ok because it seems like it’s a lot easier to have contact and do some suspension damage. I think we’ll kind of see how that plays out, but definitely with COTA braking is going to be the biggest difference to me than what it was last year.”

CERTAINLY, GOING TO BE A LOT WARMER, MID-80S. SO THIS WILL BE THE FIRST HOT RACE OF THE SEASON FOR YOU GUYS. I KNOW THAT OFTEN CAN BE A CHALLENGE, JUST THAT FIRST RACE. WHAT MIGHT THAT BE LIKE AND HOW MUCH OF A TEST WILL THAT BE OF THIS CAR? OBVIOUSLY, THERE WERE THE HEATING ISSUES IN THE COCKPIT EARLIER THAT CERTAINLY CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE, BUT WHAT KIND OF A CHALLENGE WILL THIS WEEKEND BE FOR YOU GUYS JUST TO STAY COOL?
“Yeah, I mean I’ve only been able to really do one full Cup race so far at Phoenix. It wasn’t overly warm. It wasn’t really cool at that race, so I felt like the cooling was a lot better than the test at the ROVAL. I just remember running three or four laps and thinking wow this is really hot. On that day at the ROVAL it was real overcast. It was kind of cool, so I thought to myself this is going to be tough during the summer. You know that first race that’s warm is always a challenge to the drivers. It being on a road course with all the brake heat and motor heat and things like that makes it a little more extreme. I think everybody’s probably noticing that and seeing the weather and probably trying to hydrate as much as possible to get ready for the race.”

THE LAST 11 RACES HAVE BEEN WON BY DRIVERS UNDER 30. A LOT OF THOSE GUYS YOU’VE RACED IN THE XFINITY SERIES AS WELL, SO I AM KIND OF CURIOUS DO YOU SEE ANYTHING THAT YOUNG DRIVERS ARE DOING OR DO THAT MAY LEND THEMSELVES TO HAVE MORE SUCCESS IN THIS NEW CAR?
“I mean that’s a tough question Bob. I’m not really sure. I think it more shows the talent that is coming into NASCAR. From a young age the opportunities, I think these drivers a lot of them getting it right away whether it’s talent, sponsorship, both. It allows them to develop a lot faster and then you get in the Cup Series and they’re able to stick with those organizations that they come through Xfinity or more importantly get into a really good Cup ride, and it just shows that they got talent. That’s great for the sport to have such a pool of talent coming in, whether it’s through trucks and Xfinity and into Cup. You see guys like Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson that come from the dirt side of it. They’re just so good at anything that they get in. That’s what makes it fun, especially in the Cup side of it, but even on the Xfinity side of it now. When you show up and strap in, you know on the Xfinity side of it just to be at your best, run top-10 let alone go out and win the race. On the Cup side of it looks like it’s 20 to 25 deep at least, so it’s a lot of fun as a driver to show up and know that you have to be at your best just to run inside or even be somewhat competitive.”

DOES HAVING WON THE BRICKYARD LAST YEAR MAKE THE THOUGHT OF WINNING ON SUNDAY ANYMORE BELIEVEABLE? DO YOU GUYS GO INTO THIS RACE NOW SUNDAY WITH MORE CONFIDENCE BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU WERE ABLE TO DO AT THE BRICKYARD LAST YEAR?
“I wouldn’t say it gives us more confidence. I mean it’s a completely different year, different racecar, right? I feel like with what Kaulig Racing has done so far in the Cup side of it, we’ve had decent amount of speed at these racetracks. I felt like the ROVAL test, although a long time ago it seems like back in October and these cars have developed a lot from that, but we had a good amount of speed the first day there. I think that’s where the confidence comes from. It’s trying to have the same mentality. I mean, on the Cup side of it you know to go out there and try to run inside the top 10 all day and if that gives us an opportunity to win the race then that’s great. Try to make the best of it and you really kind of change your expectations I think based off of practice and qualifying. If you feel like you got speed to go out and win the race, then you go try to do it and if not that’s something that you just try to make the best of the day. I think with the win at Indy, in a strange way kind of takes a little pressure off because we’ve won in the Cup Series, we’ve won one of the best places in the world that you could win at, so for me at least mentally takes a little pressure off because we have done that and it’s just a bonus from here on out. I always have confidence at these racetracks and feel if we’re at our best we can go contend with the best teams out there.”

WHAT SORT OF OPPORTUNITY DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS CAR PROVIDES YOU SPECIFICALLY ON THE ROAD COURSES? WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SHOWCASE BETTER IN THE NEXT GEN CAR THAN PREVIOUS GENERATION CARS?
“Everybody’s so good on the Cup side of it, so I wouldn’t say that this car lends more of an opportunity for myself. I do like how aggressive you can be with it. Braking you can really push the brakes extremely late compared to the old generation car and that’s something that I really enjoy is to kind of peak brake pressure or peak brake distance getting into a corner and try to maximize that. You can kind of toss the car around a bit more, just a little bit more nimble, the steering is quicker, the car reacts quicker. So that’s something that I always enjoy about a racecar. It makes it enjoyable to go out there and attack a race car, especially at a place like COTA where there’s so many corners, so many different types of corners that whether it’s high speed or late on the brakes. You know with that said, somebody like Kyle Larson or Chase Elliott I mean they are so good. They figure it out as well. I think more than anything it just makes it a little bit more enjoyable to go out there and drive.”

BEING A REALLY EXPERIENCED RACECAR DRIVER, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO GO TO A PLACE LIKE AUSTIN AND KIND OF EXPOSE NASCAR TO AN AUDIENCE THAT MAY NOT BE SO MOTORSPORTS SAVY OUTSIDE OF F1?
“I felt like last year the point that we showed up to Austin we were kind of just coming out of what we you know over the past couple years of what we all had to deal with with COVID. The crowd for as bad as the weather was, I couldn’t believe on Sunday how packed the racetrack was for just the monsoon that we all sat in and had to deal with. I feel like the first couple of races of a new market or a new racetrack you get a really good crowd, so I think it’s about trying to keep that crowd there or keep growing the crowd. Austin has shown with the IndyCar race and the F1 races there that motorsports side of Austin, Texas is very savvy. It’s very popular. I hope that this weekend you know good weather, we get a huge crowd again and we go put on a great show for three different races there. That’s what I think is unique about NASCAR is you know you have three great series that show up and go put on a show at a place like this and you get a lot of bang for your buck. Hopefully that crowd shows up and we put on a great show and keep growing what is just an amazing city. I think that’s what it’s about is we’ve got great racetracks that we go to, but you go to new cities, and you know you bring out a new crowd and Austin, Texas for sure is a fantastic city to be a part of. Hopefully we show that again.”

PARKER KLIGERMAN SAID THAT THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A NASCAR FAN OR F1 FAN, YOU’RE JUST MOTOSPORTS FANS WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT. HOW HELPFUL WOULD IT BE FOR NASCAR TO HAVE AN F1 TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY LIKE DRIVE TO SURVIVE BUT WITH NASCAR?
“That’s a really good question, because you know on the F1 side of it it’s relatively to say NASCAR or other motorsports maybe it’s not quite as popular because I think the biggest reason why is we haven’t had American in there full-time since I think Scott Speed. Formula One being around the world you get drawn to it whether you have a favorite driver or it’s a driver from your country that you love and you follow. So, I think with Netflix has shown just all parts of the sport in a relative short amount of time. Our attention spans aren’t very long, so you watch a 45-minute documentary of that week of whatever they’re covering and then you go to the next one and the next one. That’s really grown to allow people that maybe have never been a part of Formula One or never truly watched it, to all of a sudden say well hell I want to watch this race now because look what’s going on. You know, here in the U.S. would it be as popular for NASCAR I don’t know. Maybe it might be, but I think it’s a little bit different just because NASCAR is more implemented here in the U.S. than say around the world like Formula One. I look at it, anything you can do you know the Bubba Wallace documentary; I think is going to help bring some fans to the sport. Anything you can do to get NASCAR mainstream is only going to help grow the sport. By how much, we don’t know but it’s only going to help all the people, the sponsors, the sport itself.”

AS SOMEONE THAT’S BEEN WITH KAULIG RACING FOR A LITTLE BIT OF TIME NOW, HOW DO YOU FEEL THE TEAM HAS HANDLED THEIR MAJOR EXPANSION TO CUP SO FAR?
“It’s been a challenge for sure. All the men and women here at Kaulig Racing, the amount of hours that they’ve had to put in and I’m sure every organization is like that to a certain extent with this new car and the biggest challenge is there’s just not a lot of parts for these cars. It’s hard to get part for the Xfinity cars right now as well. I think as an organization we’ve done it at one of the most difficult times with this new car and with everything that we face right now just to try to get these cars built every week, I know the Cup side of it I think they are going to load the cars at 3 a.m. tomorrow morning to get ready. It’s been tough and all we can do, especially us drivers, is try to show our appreciation for what all the men and women are doing right now, because they’re putting in so many hours that it’s in a way unfair but it’s what has to be done just to get these cars ready to go. With that said, I think we’ve done a great job to put on two new Cup cars, to bring in all the people. I’m sitting in our brand new race shop right now that just got done at the beginning of the season, so moving shops and trying to see how that coordinates between the Xfinity side of it and the Cup side of it, we’re doing the best that we can. I think the results have been pretty decent. Justin (Haley) is definitely moving up through each race. You can see the improvement with him and Trent (Owens). Daniel has been really good at the races that he’s been in it. Phoenix, you know we got a top 20. We managed what we could out of it, so with all that said I think on the Xfinity and the Cup side of it we’re doing a really good job.”

WHAT STANDS OUT WITH COTA COMPARED TO OTHER ROAD COURSES THAT NASCAR GOES TO?
“I think it’s the length of the lap first of all. It’s very long. It’s unique in the sense of, so you take like a Sonoma that is pretty low speed corners all the way around the racetrack. Even take Road America and the length is probably longer than COTA, the lap times are probably a little bit quicker which means that racetrack is more high speed. A lot of the corners are mid-speed corners to high-speed corners. COTA is probably unique in the sense that the flow of the racetrack. Very high speed in certain sections. Long straightaways, but into very tight brake zones. The esses you kind of flow a lot of speed through them, so that is what is probably different than every other racetrack that we go to. Those road courses are kind of just one type of racetrack. They’re either pretty high speed, low speed. COTA’s got a little bit of everything there and you know I felt like on the Xfinity race because that was the dry race that I ran in, passing was more difficult than I expected. Track position is even more critical there than I would say at the other racetracks, but that’s probably what is most different out of that racetrack compared to the other ones that we go to.”

EACH WEEK THIS YEAR YOU’VE HAD A TOP-10 FINISH. HOW MUCH HAS THAT HELPED YOUR CONFIDENCE THIS EARLY IN THE SEASON?
“I feel like on the Xfinity side of it, this was a race that we learned a lot. We finished second, which was a great run, but we got our butts kicked by Kyle Busch that day and it really made us go back to the drawing board with our road course set ups and say ok we need to do something different, because you know Kyle got in and it wasn’t close really. We could match him on lap times early in a run but by the end of the run he was gone. Felt like this race last year really propelled our road course program on the Xfinity side, made us make a lot of changes. So, I’m really excited to go back to it just to see if it works there. On the Cup side of it, I just love road course racing. I’m looking forward to the challenge of this new car at a road course for all the reasons that I’ve talked about. Even though we finished fifth there in the wet, that does nothing to translate to the new car, but I just love road course racing. I think this car, especially, is going to be a lot of fun on the road courses. Can’t wait to go attack it.”

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